JORDAN Shalini and I met during the first week of classes at Columbia University in 2012. During a student happy hour (6 on 6) we started talking and I attempted to impress her with my knowledge of Malawi. After talking about Malawi's beautiful ocean views, it became clear I was in over my head. With my chances of romantic success looking pretty bad, I licked my wounds and we became close friends and classmates. Much later, we were partnered together for a class project in Japan. Low-priced udon and alcoholic beverage vending machines turned out to be shared interests that kickstarted our relationship. Eight years later here we are, ready to take a new turn together. SHALINI I distinctly remember noticing this cute, hilarious guy sitting across the aisle from me in our studio class at Columbia. We got to chatting at our weekly basement happy hour and I could hardly believe it when I learned his sister had lived in Malawi for a while! That is, until he started speaking of oceans. I was convinced he was making all this up. The writing was on the wall before the story began! We still hung out occasionally, but a frenzied all-nighter for finals, complete with a Dawson's Creek marathon, jumpstarted a true friendship. Obscure topics, jokes, and wild historical facts were this man's staple, he was fascinating. A scavenger hunt across Akihabara a while later sealed the deal, and a shared appreciation for the weird and wonderful in life has led us here, 8 years together and a decade of friendship, ready to start a new adventure.

When I was getting ready to propose I had no idea what I was doing. I had bought the ring and it was sitting in a drawer for a few months while we watched the changing landscape of the world around us. Shalini's dad had come to visit and was taking a nap when I finally decided it was time to ask. I asked, she said yes, a ring was given, we woke up Dinshi, he seemed unsurprised. Then we finished watching 'Jaws'. In case you didn't get the last bit, yes we were watching Jaws when I proposed. I think that sort of confirms I had no idea what I was doing.